It is becoming more apparent with each passing day that former border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean have been maliciously prosecuted by the United States government with U.S. District Attorney, Johnny Sutton as the primary malevolent force behind the unlawful suit and subsequent illegal detention of the two ex-agents in separate federal penitentiaries.
If, after having read this piece I posted last week, you are still unconvinced as to the evident innocence of Ramos and Compean, then you will likely remain obtusely stolid in your blind adherence to that belief–a belief that is crumbling as more passionate individuals than yourselves become involved, investigating, questioning, and bringing to light additional information for a case that was rotten to begin with. Your confidence in your government, in President Bush–a man who is purposefully opening our borders to illegals, and detrimentally expanding upon NAFTA through the Security & Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) in order to eventually create a North American Union–is alarming.
Yet there exist a large portion of the population who either know nothing about the plight of Ramos and Compean, or they callously and ignorantly side with officials who are on a massive PR push right now in order to deflect accusations of deception and wrong-doing on their part. To those who are savvy, it is obvious such people as Johnny Sutton and Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner are spinning and deceiving and hiding in order to obscure that fact that Ramos and Compean were railroaded by the government.
More comments from readers in this blog post…
They shot an unarmed suspect (who they didn’t know was an illegal) in the back.
They tried to cover it up by picking up shell casings
They abandoned the shot man in the wilderness
They filed a false report about it.
Doing their jobs? Doesn’t sound like it.
and…
Looks like the President won’t be pardoning any criminals soon…
White House spokesman Tony Snow last week would not comment specifically on pardon proceedings, but he said the facts presented in court showed that Ramos and Compean tried to cover up what occurred.
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton issued a statement in response to allegations the agents were prosecuted for “just doing their job,” saying “nothing could be further from the truth.”
“These agents shot someone who they knew to be unarmed and running away,” Sutton said. “They destroyed evidence, covered up a crime scene and then filed false reports about what happened. It is shocking that there are people who believe it is OK for agents to shoot an unarmed suspect who is running away.”
and finally, this last ignorant and cold comment…
If the President of the United States won’t even consider a pardon, why should I care about them?
While these are most likely comments from the same person, it is apparent that this person(s) has done very little investigation into the case of the border agents. Rather, he/she has relied upon the repetetive ramblings of Johnny Sutton to formulate his/her rash and uninformed beliefs in this matter.
But it is incumbent upon us, as those who proclaim the innocence of Ramos and Compean, to prove that innocence. There is no burden of proof upon those who believe they are guilty, as the commenter(s) above presume as truth due to the outcome of the original trial and the talking points of Sutton. However, and with confidence, I will say that due to people like Sara Carter of the The Daily Bulletin, Jerome Corsi, contributor for World Net Daily, and John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of the John and Ken Show on KFI, the political prisoners Ramos and Compean will be vindicated and released while people like Johnny Sutton will be brought up on charges and punished.
The Daily Bulletin obtained a confidential Office of Inspector General memo from an interview Compean gave to investigators on March 18, 2005.
The memo, dated April 4, 2005, supports the agent’s claim that he believed his life was in danger when he tried to apprehend the Mexican drug smuggler on Feb. 17, 2005.Special Agent Christopher Sanchez of the Inspector General’s office stated in the memo that Compean believed Aldrete-Davila was carrying a weapon when Compean fired at him. Sanchez was the main DHS investigator on the case.
“Compean said that Aldrete-Davila continued to look back over his shoulder towards Compean as Aldrete-Davila ran away from him,” Sanchez wrote. “Compean said that he began to shoot at Aldrete-Davila because of the shiny object he thought he saw in Aldrete-Davila’s left hand … Compean explained that he thought that the shiny object might be a gun and that Aldrete-Davila was going to shoot him because he kept looking back at him as he ran away … .”
According to McCaul and the other congressmen who met with Skinner – Reps. John Culberson, Kenny Marchant and Ted Poe, all Republicans who represent Texas – the inspector general told them during their meeting last fall that Ramos and Compean had confessed to knowingly shooting at an unarmed suspect.
The Daily Bulletin made five phone calls for comment to the Office of Inspector General on Thursday, and left the same number of messages again on Friday. None of the calls were returned.
“According to the inspector general, they had evidence that the agents said they were out to shoot Mexicans,” Poe said. “I found that hard to believe and asked if I could see that evidence. They never gave us what was promised.”
McCaul, a former federal prosecutor in Texas, said the Inspector General’s office has refused to provide any evidence thus far to support its claims.
He and his colleagues are now demanding that Skinner turn over documents related to the case or face a subpoena or contempt of Congress.
“I want to weigh the facts and the evidence in this case,” McCaul said. “Either it is total arrogance or gross incompetence on the part of the Inspector General’s office. If what (the DHS) told us was a lie, or if they misrepresented the facts on this case to members of Congress, we are going to hold them accountable.”
Full transcripts from Ramos and Compean’s trial last spring still have not been made available to Congress or the public. According to McCaul, repeated requests for the transcripts since November have been answered with excuses.
Ramos and Compean shot Aldrete-Davila on Feb. 17, 2005, after a foot chase along the Texas-Mexico border. Aldrete-Davila, who was struck in the buttocks, had fled a van the agents were pursuing; the van later turned out to be holding more than 700 pounds of marijuana. The smuggler was given immunity by the U.S. Attorney’s office and full medical treatment for his injuries to testify against the agents.
The agents were convicted of several charges related to the shooting, notably assault with a deadly weapon. Ramos received an 11-year prison sentence, Compean 12 years.
Aldrete-Davila is suing the U.S. Border Patrol for $5 million for his injuries.
Ramos said he testified during the trial that he saw Aldrete-Davila with something “shiny” in his hand, and told the Daily Bulletin he thought it was a gun.
According to the memorandum, seven other agents were on the scene at the time of the shooting, including two supervisors whom Ramos and Compean both stated knew about the incident.
No other agents at the scene that day were prosecuted, and some were given immunity to testify against Ramos and Compean.
Agents and supervisors are required to file a written report if they participate in or know of an incident, according to TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents nearly 11,000 Border Patrol agents.
“The steadfast refusal of the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to provide relevant information to Congress and the public about why Border Patrol agents Compean and Ramos were prosecuted causes people to wonder what they are trying to hide,” Bonner said.
Ballistics data don’t support
charge against border agents
Investigator: U.S. attorney twisted evidence to fit case – ‘guilty of malicious prosecution’
Posted: January 28, 2007
10:45 p.m. Eastern
 Andy Ramirez |
“Johnny Sutton and his assistants are guilty of malicious prosecution,” Ramirez charged to WND. “The prosecutors lied to the jury and he twisted evidence to make it fit his case. And when he couldn’t twist the evidence, the government demanded that the court seal evidence which would have been exculpatory to the defense.”
Nearly two years after the conclusion of the trial, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has yet to release a transcript of the trial.
WND asked Ramirez if he was aware of the seriousness of his charges.
“I am very aware and I am accusing Mr. Sutton of a felony,” Ramirez told WND, “but I am basing my conclusion on the evidence I have examined in this case and the refusal by the government to provide evidence to substantiate its claim to the Congress and the American people.”
“Back on Sept. 26, 2006, officials from the DHS Office of Inspector General made serious allegations against both agents Ramos and Compean to four members of Congress from the Texas delegation,” Ramirez said. “The Inspector General has subsequently refused to provide their evidence to substantiate their claims to Congress. So I am also accusing the DHS Office of Inspector General of making false statements to Congress in order to prevent a congressional inquiry. I am asking the U.S. Congress to subpoena all documents pertaining to this case including the full transcripts, sealed testimony, and the sealed indictment against Aldrete-Davila in order to get to the truth of this case once and for all.”
Sutton told WND that as far as he in concerned, the issue was settled at the trial. Both defendants and their attorneys stipulated the bullet that struck the drug smuggler came from Ramos’ gun.
Ramirez argues the border agents did not have the best legal assistance, due to a lack of funds.
WND previously reported Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, has accused DHS of stonewalling on the release of documents. Despite persistent requests to hand over promised internal reports, McCaul told WND Congress had not yet received the materials.
In the Sept. 26, 2006, meeting with the Texas Republican delegation, the Inspector General’s office claimed it had substantiating investigative reports that could back up their criminal charges against Ramos and Compean. Among the charges made by IG was that Ramos and Compean had stated Feb.17, 2005, the day of the Aldrete-Davila shooting, they “wanted to shoot a Mexican.”
 Monica Ramos embraces her husband, former U.S. Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos, two days before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison (Courtesy El Paso Times) |
WND also reported Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, last week filed a Freedom of Information Act request against the DHS Inspector General’s office to obtain those investigative reports. Poe took this action after DHS informed the Texas Republican delegation the documents would not be turned over to them because the Democrats were now in control of Congress and McCaul was no longer chairman of the Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Ramirez has worked on the Ramos and Compean matter for nearly two years, investigating the facts of case and interviewing Ramos, Compean, their families and others knowledgeable about the proceedings. He shared two documents with WND that, he says, undermine the prosecution’s case against Ramos.
In an affidavit filed by DHS March 15, 2005, with the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas, special agent Christopher R. Sanchez swore the following:
Ballistics testing confirms a government-issued weapon belonging to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos, a 96D Beretta .40 caliber automatic pistol, serial number BER067069M, fired a bullet (a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson jacketed hollow point) which hit the victim in the left buttocks while he was attempting to flee to Mexico.
The second document, a ballistics report completed by the Texas Department of Public Safety, interests Ramirez both because of the agency that did the testing and the results of the test.
“For some unexplained reason, U.S. Attorney Sutton had the ballistics test performed by the Texas Department of Public Safety in El Paso, rather than by the FBI,” he said. “This was a federal issue that should have gone to the FBI and only to the FBI. The Texas Department of Public Safety had no business running a ballistics report on a federal case. The FBI handles all shooting incidents, whether it involves assaults or otherwise, concerning federal agents. DPS should have refused the case and demanded that the bullet be picked up by the FBI for analysis.
“If you ask the Texas DHS how many shooting cases they handle involving federal agents, they would have said, ‘None’. Then, if you asked the FBI how many shooting cases they handle involving federal agents, they would have said, ‘All of them.’ Yet that isn’t how it went in this case. Nothing was done by the rules.”
The results of the ballistics tests were reported in a letter written by Joseph J. J. Correa, a Criminalist IV with the Texas DPS El Paso Laboratory, March 18, 2005, and addressed to Brian D. Carter of DHS in El Paso.
The letter states Correa examined one fired copper-jacketed bullet presented to him by Carter on March 17, 2005. The letter identifies the victim shot by the bullet as “Osvaldo Aldrete.”
In the letter, Correa notes that he was asked to determine the manufacture of the firearm that fired the submitted bullet.
Correa could not positively identify Ramos’s weapon as the one that fired the submitted bullet. His report concludes:
The copper-jacketed bullet was fired from a barrel having six lands and grooves inclined to the right. The manufacturer of the firearm that fired the copper-jacketed bullet is unknown, but could include commonly encountered models of .40 S&W caliber FN/Browning, Beretta, Heckler & Koch, and Ruger pistols.
Correa’s report gives no indication the bullet submitted for analysis was disfigured or in fragments, despite having been supposedly extracted from Aldrete-Davila’s body after reportedly doing massive damage to his groin area and hitting bone.
“The problem was that the ballistics report did not match the bullet to Ramos’ gun,” Ramirez said. “The ballistics report said the bullet could have been fired by any one of four different makes of gun. So, the affidavit of complaint against Ramos and Compean made a statement that was not substantiated by the ballistics report. That is a big problem for the prosecution. Their evidence does not support their accusation.”
The arrest warrant issued for agent Ramos, a copy of which Ramirez also supplied WND, attests Ramos was charged with, “Intentionally assaulting a Mexican national, one O.A.D., resulting in serious bodily injury.” This conclusion is not supported by the ballistics letter written by Texas DPS specialist Correa.
WND has not investigated documents from the prosecutors which would establish the chain of evidence between the time the bullet was extracted from Aldrete-Davila’s groin and the time Carter of DHS presented it to Correa for analysis.
“How do we know that the prosecutors didn’t simply fire a round from Ramos’ gun into gel?” Ramirez asks. “That could explain the nearly pristine bullet the prosecutors presented for ballistics analysis.”
The failure of the prosecution ballistics reports to link the bullet with agent Ramos’ weapon directly challenges a claim made by Sutton to WND in an exclusive interview. In that interview, Sutton claimed that agent Ramos hit Aldrete-Davila:
WND: So, Compean shot 14 times and missed everybody, but Ramos shot one time and hit the drug dealer in the buttocks?
Sutton: That’s correct.
WND: Is Ramos that much better a shot than Compean?
Sutton: Ramos is a marksman.
WND has further learned the bullet was not extracted from Aldrete-Davila’s body until DHS special agent Christopher R. Sanchez brought him back from Mexico, at some unspecified time after the February 17, 2005 incident in which Aldrete-Davila was supposedly wounded by agent Ramos’ fire.
A doctor in Mexico had inserted a catheter to reverse the damage done to Aldrete-Davila’s urethra, but did not extract the bullet.
The bullet was extracted by a U.S. Army doctor, at government expense. According to the physician, the bullet entered Aldrete-Davila’s left buttock from the left side, traversed his groin, damaged the urethra, hitting bone in the process, and lodged in his right thigh. The bullet was extracted from Aldrete-Davila’s right groin and he received reconstructive surgery for the damage done to his groin and urethra and a catheter was reinserted.
WND has obtained the post-operative release form for the U.S. operation. That document specifies that Aldrete-Davila was released to the custody of DHS special agent Christopher Sanchez. WND has not been able to obtain evidence regarding where Sanchez took Aldrete-Davila next, or why.
The Army doctor’s description of the wound directly contradicts U.S. Attorney Sutton’s repeated claim that agents Ramos and Compean shot Aldrete-Davila in the back.
The doctor clearly stated that the wound he observed was consistent with Aldrete-Davila turning to assume a “bladed position” with his left arm extended back toward the officers. This corroborates agent Ramos and Compean’s claim they observed Aldrete-Davila turning back toward them while fleeing, extending his arm and holding an object in his hand that they took to be a weapon.
Aldrete-Davila is left-handed, consistent with the bullet entering his left buttock laterally as he fled and turned back toward the officers, possibly pointing a weapon at them.
“The doper after the surgery was transferred back to the personal custody of DHS special agent Sanchez,” Ramirez said. “So Christopher Sanchez has both the doper and the bullet. Aldrete-Davila was not transferred to a hotel, escorted by federal marshals. Aldrete-Davila wasn’t escorted from Mexico by the Mexican government. Everything involving Aldrete-Davila was left to the personal custody of Christopher Sanchez. Anything could have happened and who would know?”
WND is left to ask the following questions, which the Texas DPS ballistics analysis does not resolve:
- How did Aldrete-Davila continue running far enough to cross the Rio Grande back into Mexico after he had been hit by a round that passed through his left buttock from the side and damaged his urethra before lodging in his right thigh?
- How do we know that the bullet extracted from Aldrete-Davila could not have been fired into him during an unrelated incident in Mexico subsequent to Feb. 17, 2005, by a weapon among those of the type described in Correa’s report?
Conceivably, agents Ramos and Compean did not hit fleeing drug smuggler Aldrete-Davila on Feb. 17, 2005, despite firing multiple rounds at him.
“Johnny Sutton and his office have intentionally distorted and misrepresented the facts in this case,” Ramirez charged. “There’s something clearly wrong in the federal prosecutor’s office in El Paso. The Ramos and Compean case is a witch hunt. Every law enforcement agent on the border from Border Patrol agents to ICE agents to deputy sheriffs and sheriffs have gotten the message.”
What’s the message, WND asked?
“The message is simple,” Ramirez replied. “Enforce our drug laws aggressively on the border and you risk going to jail, not the drug dealers. We have a drug war going on along the Texas border and the U.S. government has backed off to the benefit of the drug lords.
Ramirez ended the interview with WND by noting: “After the Ramos and Compean case, no U.S. law enforcement officer on the border will ever again draw a weapon against a Mexican illegal transporting drugs without worrying that effort to enforce our laws may place him in jail, not the doper.”
On Aug. 17, 2006, Ramirez gave sworn testimony on the Ramos and Compean case to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, a copy of which is posted on his website.
That sneakn illegal lover sutton and his judge croney cardone are the one’s who should be in jail
Prosecuting Attorney Office (Johnny Sutton & Debra Kanof): 210-384-7400
White House Comment Line 202-456-1111
My Senator and Congressman hear from me once a week minimum on this.
[...] back in general population. This is what the Justice Department wants, including George Bush and Johnny Sutton. They figure if these two Agents are killed, then they don’t have to worry about all of us [...]
Hey Chief,
We’re starting a new illegal immigration blogburst. If you’re interested go ahead and sign up here…
http://blogs4borders.blogspot.com/
Then shoot me an email and we’ll have more info this week.
All the best,
Jake
US Attorney Johnny Sutton is the one that should be in prison. Hey, here’s an idea, lets put him on the border and let the illegal immigrants beat him, rape him, and hopefully worse. Maybe he’ll get a shot to the gut, that way he’ll think about the law enforcement officers that he prosecutes for keeping our Country safe while he forgives the criminals that come here and commit crimes against them. Either way, he’s a piss poor piece of trash that needs to be thrown out with the rest of the garbage! Nice thought…
Nothing about the case passes the smell test. Its mystifying to me that President Bush would deliberately engage in this kind of unethical conduct…coming down on the side of an illegal alien criminal over his own loyal agents
Its a railroad job….probably engineered by misguided subordinates misinterpreting Presidential direction….now Bush is exhibiting the same misplaced stubborness he exhibited over the poorly thought out UAE port deal…
Instead of closing ranks he should be revealing and clearing the air…punishing those officials who abused their authority…reversing unfair punishment
This is the ultimate flaw in the Bush Presidency and why he cannot be a great President….this ‘I know better than the American People’ attitude is reflected throughout his 2nd term…
Too bad, his weak leadership has probably doomed us to suffering through a Hillary Clinton administration
I’m just beginning to follow this case so I’ll admit up front I have some catching up to do. That being said, past the obvious presence of Sutton, is there any possible connection between this case and the House of Death case in El Paso?
If any body believes that the prosecution of the 2 border patrol agents was just and deserved then this country is in deep doo doo. To many politicuans are on a personal agenda or money oriented to be doing a job for the american public.
I do not believe that aliens should be given a blanket citizenship. I guess I’m really tired of politicians and big business giving this country away. I’m starting to understand how the original occupants felt. Its just my opinion. Thankyou!
Where does Mexico get off demanding the prosecution of innocent people. This case and the one involving Dog the Bounty Hunter are strikingly similiar. The corruption goes clear up to the highest offices of the government. One can’t help but wonder if the Drug Lords are the ones driving these insane actions. I, for one, am ashamed of President Bush for not stepping into this matter and pardoning the two border agents. As for Johnny Sutton, he is going down, and will be prosecuted for his malicious political prosecution. Officials higher up in the government involved in these lies and coverups will get their just due and I hope they rot in Hell. It will all come unraveled very soon no matter how hard Carl Rove intimidates people and tries to cover things up.
A recently retired, high-ranking DEA official is calling on Congress to investigate the role played by a U.S. Attorney in the cover-up of an informant’s participation in mass murder in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
The DEA official, Sandalio Gonzalez, is pointing the finger squarely at Johnny Sutton, the U.S. Attorney in San Antonio, Texas. He claims that had Sutton taken action sooner in the case, more than a dozen people might still be alive today. As a result, Gonzalez says Congress must act now to get to the bottom of what Sutton knew, and when he knew it.
According to Gonzalez, who, until January of this year, served as special agent in charge of the DEA’s El Paso field office, Sutton was clearly aware of the informant’s participation in the murders by at least Feb. 24, 2004. That’s when Gonzalez fired off a letter to Sutton blowing the whistle on the informant’s role in the murders
Well personally I feel that Sutton might be getting a paycheck from Mexico. I have no problem with immigrants as long as they go about it the right way. I do have a problem with drug dealers getting off. As for the border patrol agents they thought they saw a weapon in which they acted in self-defense as they were trained. And even if the patrol agents did something wrong they should not have been allowed to be in general population of the prison. A guilty cop doesn’t even get that kind of treatment. And why weren’t these border patrol agents supervised in prison instead of allowing illegal aliens contact? I think there’s way to many questions that are not being answered. Fire Johnny Sutton NOW!!!!
Sharon,
I am with you 100% on your comment, as you know since you’ve ready my blog here. I am entirely against ILLEGAL immigration. I am all for LEGAL immigration.
That being said, Sutton and his office should be investigated, and whatever comes from that–hopefully justice.
Thank you, and everyone here for their comments and the support of Ramos and Compean.
The agents had probable-cause that they were pursuing a drug-smuggler rather than just an illegal border crosser, because a border crosser would have fled in any direction, preferably toward the U.S., rather than going out of the way to push past the officer to Mexico, and would not have abandoned a valuable a van, as the penalty for illegal border crossing is just a return to Mexico; and because so many similar incidents with drug-smugglers happen daily that are clearly drug-smuggling to the experienced agent at the outset, including another incident that same day. Prosecutor Sutton distorted the agents as out shooting at Mexican families from the outset, and continued a pattern of lies.
Agent Compean’s written statement of the shooting provided prosecutor Sutton with all he needed to prosecute the case; as Compean freely admitted shooting at the drug-smuggler and not filing a gun-discharge-report. Sutton did not need to give the drug-dealer immunity. The foreign drug-dealer had no standing to bring a charge against the agents without submitting to a charge of drug-smuggling himself. Sutton had an unlawful political agenda to promote an open border contrary to the will and security of the American people. Sutton withheld from the jury the fact that Arizona, border patrol agent Rene Sanchez is a friend of the drug-dealer, was in contact with him, and Rene Sanchez filed the shooting charge against the two officers. Sutton also withheld the evidence from the jury that the drug-dealer was caught in a later incident of smuggling drugs into the U.S. and therefore lost his immunity from prosecution for that second incident; but Sutton did not charge the drug-smuggler in the second incident.
Sutton quotes the drug-dealer’s version of events, and intentionally implies it is the testimony of the agent witness, Juarez, in order to distort the truth. The agent witness never said he saw the drug-smuggler fall after being shot and he could have been arrested; on the contrary the witness says the drug-smuggler did not limp until he was on the Mexican side of the river, and was picked up by the friends he had called on his cell phone, having called likely when speeding in the van. (The Cell phone was found in the van. How did the drug-dealer dial a cell phone, while speeding in a van with gloves on? Did witnesses say he wore gloves? Where were the fingerprints in the van?, or why could they not trace the speed-dial phone number he called, that would have been in the cell phone they found?)
Sutton willfully distorts the written statement of agent Compean. Agent Compean was in between the drug-dealer and Mexico; the drug-dealer did raise his hands when far from agent Compean, but refused agent Compean’s order to stop and get on the ground, but kept coming at Compean, clearly showing his intent was not to surrender but to get to Mexico, or take the agent’s gun. The drug-smuggler could not have climbed the steep, 11-foot, ditch embankment, after running through the water in the ditch, and kept his balance with his hands up. He put them up before starting up the embankment, refusing to stop, refused to get on the ground. Agent Compean attempted to stop the oncoming drug-dealer, who was a threat to take his gun, by hitting him with the butt of his shotgun (he could have shot him there at close range, if his intent had been to shoot him). Compean alleges a scuffle, (I find this unclear), Compean says he slipped, and when on the ground on the inclined embankment, the drug-dealer, a little higher, kicked dirt in his face, either accidently or intentionally, and continued to run, and Compean came up firing. Agent Ramos arrived, his partner was disheveled and firing; Ramos saw the drug-smuggler turn and look back, and Ramos fired as the drug-smuggler was at the edge of the river and its embankment.
I would have no protest had both agents only been fired for failing to mention the shooting in their reports (though witnesses say they mentioned the shooting verbally to two supervisors) and the drug-smuggler had been prosecuted. I am neither convinced the agents were guilty or innocent. I am convinced that Prosecutors Johnny Sutton and Debra Kanof lied, suppressed evidence, lied a lot more, tampered with witnesses, and had a political agenda. The prosecutors should be disbarred. Homeland Security Inspector, Richard L. Skinner admitted his aides lied, but did not fire his aides when the aides told Congressmen that the two agents had made a written statement that they were “out to shoot Mexicans that day”, in an effort to sway the appeal, stop the public outcry, and continue Mr. Sutton’s willful lie and political agenda. A case of willful slander. As an official you do not make a convicting statement without proof in hand. Mr. Skinner did not fire his aides because they were speaking for him. Further support that the Bush adminstration is pushing an illegal political agenda of an open border with U.S.-taxpayer-paid free social security benefits, free medical care, free childcare and free low income housing grants to all of Mexico, all of the South Americans coming through Mexico to the U.S., and those from the Middle East and Asia coming through Mexico. President Bush, apparently, believes the 12 year sentence imposed upon the two agents who fought with a drug-smuggler, who may have been testing a route for smuggling a nuclear weapon, is fair; as the President has refused to admit any wrong-doing on the part of his appointees, and has refused to pardon men who should have been only fired. President Bush’s refusal to pardon the two agents and fire his corrupt prosecutors and slandering Homeland Security Inspector shows the government, Republican and Democrat has become a self-serving criminal organization.
What I don’t understand is how ILLEGAL Aliens have more “civil” rights than Americans who were born here and obey the law. Johny needs to come to Florida and defend some American victims of police brutality and corruption.
Florida is easily the most violent and corrupt state in the union, always has been, always will be.
Cops here are more corrupt than anywhere in the country.
Departmental policies prove their resolve to protect and serve only themselves.
I think we should shoot EVERY Illegal Alien in the ars and send them home to Mexico.
Johny should have to repay all the AMERICAN Tax payers money he has WASTED on petty, insignificant and ILLEGAL cases.
But we made the system that put this idiot in the position he is in and now we all pay for his stupidity.
I just don’t understand this country. Why do illegals have any rights at all ? What do you think would happen if it was the other way around and we were trying to cross their border ? Do you think we’d get a fair trial or even make it that far without being gunned down ? I find cases like this so typical of our country screwing our people while everyone else counts for more than us. I say shame on our goverment for letting this happen and those men should have never been arrested in the first place. 150,000+ people have signed a petition to free those border patrols yet Bush ignores our pleas. Good going America for electing such a FINE and caring President. I hope you never have to presonally count on him or our government for anything.
Disappointment in our Country’s Leadership is putting it mildly!!! President Bush should put an end to this mess and pardon the Border Patrolmen with a full re-instatement of their jobs with full back pay!!! I applaud the two Border Patrolmen and what they tried to do!!!! Where is our FAIR Justice System????? We do not have a FAIR justice system anymore!!! Our laws that are passed by our leaders are ignored by the judicial system!!! It seems as if our country is in the control of political agendas!! A civil war might be the only answer to a problem that seems to be getting worse!!! Someone needs to step up and be a MAN to NATO and to other country leaders!!!! We need to keep our tax monies here at home and let everyone fend for themselves (except for the sick or starving)!!!! My comments will go unanswered, as usual but I mean everything that I have written!!! Please put GOD back into our country!!!!!
Reply to MEP regarding Johnny Sutton and the House of Death case:
This is on the Narco News site:
“Johnny Sutton, the U.S. Attorney in San Antonio, Texas, who now finds himself in the hot seat over the ongoing cover-up in the House of Death mass murders, is well connected to the seat of power in this country.
Sutton has close ties to President George W. Bush as well as to U.S. Attorney General and possible Supreme Court candidate Alberto Gonzales – who is no relation to Sandalio Gonzalez, the former high-ranking DEA official who is calling for a congressional investigation of Sutton’s actions in the House of Death case.”
Sutton has been on a crusade….a modern day Salem Witch hunt. The only difference he is hunting Border Patrol Agents. Former Agent Gary Bergman’s case is more outrageous than the current Ramos/Compean situation. Gary served his time in general population. Sutton used a convicted drug smuggler as a key witness in Gary’s trial. Gary had arrested the drug smuggler. How often does a criminal get the chance to seek revenge on the person that put them behind bars? I know justice is blind, but dumb and ridiculous it should not be.
PROSECUTOR GONE WILD!!!!!!
I think we need to punish cops who break the law by using excessive force where there is no threat. However I think civil rights shold not be defended for illegals and drug smugglers.
When is the last time an American got a break, Amnesty, or immunity form the law? NEVER!
Just take a trip to ANY traffic court in the country (especially Fla.) and you will see 75% od the cases are illegal Mexicans driving with no license and no insurance usually on their third or fourth charge. EVERY SINGLE ONE gets a $25.00 fine and a REDUCED court cost and of course an interpretor and a public defender, no questions asked.
If you arte and American in Fla driving with no lic can lead to at least three FELONY charges for at least two people. The owner of the car driven by an unlicensed driver is charged with “supliing a vehicle to a unlicensed driver” or something of this nature. And I beleive driving without insurance is also a felony in this stated and will revoke your license as well. How can our courst not preosecute Illegals like Americans.
Iheard a Fla Judge tell and illegal if he was convicted again he could be depoarted. The Defendant, through his interpretor, said he understood. He pled guilty to his third charge and was given the customary $25.00 fine and a reduced court cost of $75.00. I couldn’t believe it!.
This goes on everywhere. It makes you wonder what the hell is going on in our courts. ONLY Americans are held accountable and made to pay because Americans will pay to stay out of jail. Mexicans don’t mind spending time in jail so they are not good “customers”. And there number are so great we can’t hold them in jail like Americans.
We need to wake up, and voice our outrage at a system that is corrupt and punnishing Americans and letting the illegals victimize every American.
Illegals do not and shouild not have ANY civil rights and Americans rights should be defended above ALL OTHERS!
The border patols could take a lesson from Fla. cops when in jepordy LIE LIE LIE! These cops are in the situation they are in because their buddies abandoned them. That would neve happen in Fla.
The cops screwed up when they admitted shooting unarmed suspects.
In Fla. every cop would lie, the “investigation” would take at least 6 months and the cops would have not one single shred of evidence to charge them with anything.
In the past 2 years reading about other issues the government has been corrupt about, CPS and the court system for one, when I heard the news about the border agents being tossed in jail and charged for doing their jobs, I knew the government was out to railroad them before I heard any of Johnny Suttons lies.
Bush and his entire good ole boy system needs to go! What does it take to get rid of them?
My husband, the idiot, voted for Bush..and now because of this hes sorry he did.
Bush and Chenney have got to go. As part of We The People who hire government I say THEIR FIRED. And Johnny Sutton should be sued by the families of the agents for the crimes he has committed and by the American People.
Tell Mr. Sutton in person.
Johnny Sutton
(210) 648-8533
2427 Christian Dr, San Antonio, TX 78222
Sutton has chosen to do a very despicable thing by prosecuting our border agents. I am in no way an activist for anything, but for Sutton to turn our border agents into the bitches of Mexican drug runners is way over the top. I’ll continue to write letters to everybody until Ramos and Compean are released. Then I’ll keep it up until that rat-bastard Sutton is in general population where he deserves to be.
I remember a case in CA where officers shot at a car over 100 times I don’t believe that any of the officers involved were arrested or charged and this guy was not even a criminal I think he was a drunk driver that wouldn’t stop and they said he aimed the car at them. At least thats as close as I can remember it.
Johnny Sutton, if he is the texas trash can that made mistatements and encouraged the prosecution of our 2 good border patrol agents, … this Johnny Sutton (along with his mother in law, Richard Skinner) each need a good hard sigmoidoscopy to get their frustrations to take leave of them.
Don’t like my language? Well, pardner……you’re gonna get lots lots more!
Until these border agents are pardoned and freed, Texan Repubs are gonna get their asses kicked hard and even by every Californian, every decent US citizen, and every one of their own little oily street walking daughters who easily could flatten their fat asses.
We’re gonna shove their department and their president right up their poop shoot and make sure it fits, darlin’!
Take it to the bank of the West!
Maybe Mr. Sutton felt that he owed the country a couple of federal prosecutions of public servants to make up for the two pedophile employees of the Texas Youth Commission whom he let off the hook. Back in 2005, when the Texas Rangers could not get local prosecutors or the Texas Attorney General to bring charges against officials for sexually abusing children in their charge, they went to Sutton. Apparently, he went ahead and drew uo federal charges—and then his bosses in Washington told him not to file them.
Maybe they did not think it would be good politics to have a child sexual abuse scandal involving state officials in Texas when Bush ally Gov. Rick Perry (Republican) was fighting a hard primary battle against Strayhorn, a morality candidate. Maybe they did not want a sex scandal to haunt Texas Republicans in the general election. For whatever reason, the US attorneys including the civil rights division decided that child sexual abuse by corrupt state officials was none of their business.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54861
So, Sutton backed off. And the kids confined to the Texas Youth Commission, many of them first time offenders sent to jail for offenses such as skipping school, were left to the mercy of pedophiles for two more years.
Maybe Sutton’s conscience got the better of him and he decided that SOMEONE guilty of act of abuse of official power had to go to jail. And the border patrol agents were two easy targets.
WE paid for that drug smuggler’s medical bills??? am i reading this right?? to get immunity and then goes right back and sues the u.s.?? who’s paying for this guys’ legal bills?? what the hell is wrong with johnny sutton?? did this guy go to a real law school?? i can’t believe this drug smuggler is getting the VIP treatment…i’m sending the emails right now to my state congress people.
I watched the recent interview of Little Johnny Sutton on the Jeff Beck show>>not only is he a bald face liar and has distorted the facts of the case to achieve a conviction of these outstanding border agents.
If our justice system depends on the Likes Of Little Johnny and others like him>>we are in serious trouble.>hey it could happen to anyone of us>>If I could do a face to face with Little Johnny>>my comment would be go suck a rats ass>>what a small pathetic man>>My sympathies go out to law enforcement agents that have to contend with bastards like Sutton>>Yet the cartel drug dealers go free>>kinda strange huh how that happens>>
Perhaps they should start investigating Sutton>>
Even if those two border patrol officers did everything Sutton and his conspirators said they did, the worst they should receive is an old fashioned firing. The sentences were excessive, WAY TOO excessive. But if corporations and the politicians they own want to say, “Keep your hands off our cheap labor,” this says it pretty well (wonder how much of a kickback Sutton is getting from the Mexican drug mob?). Of course, when you figure our courts are so indifferent to justice anyway, maybe I’m expecting too much. In Pennsylvania, there’s a guy who is seven years into a life sentence for not revealing to the judge in his divorce the whereabouts of money his wife said he had hidden offshore (he insists he doesn’t have the money; therefore his contempt of court sentence will continue until his death). In Texas, there’s woman who had two non-violent felony convictions and is doing life without parole because her 16 year-old son stole a car. The list of such sentencing is endless. In our courts, justice is an accident. Truly vicious types are out on parole in a year or two, and people who are absolutely no threat to anyone are locked up for years. I have no faith in the system, and why should anyone? No, if these border patrol guys are to be treated fairly, it will take a complete re-do of our legal system; I’m not holding my breath for that one.
So a drug dealer is getting free health care and the right to sue , in order to get our tax money , while we are denied a medical health coverage , maybe we should turn into illegal drug dealers , so that we can get free medical treatment .
Johnny Sutton was not satisfied by sending 2 border patrol officers , that’s why he added a third border patrol officer to his list .
Michael Moore was right when he said in his new coming movie Sicko , that we all should go to Guantanamo to get free medical treatment .
So apparently drug dealers and terrorists gets free medical health coverage , and us tax payers money , we get $0 coverage , or maybe we’re gonna end up in jail by orders from Johnny Sutton .
GIT-R-DONE
Is this wrong or what?
Another former U.S. Border Patrol agent is due to start a prison term on Monday this man sentenced for a typographical error that he reported to authorities himself so that the situation could be corrected, according to a new report from Friends of the Border Patrol.
And the case bears similarities to the recent case involving two other Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos sentenced to prison for shooting at a drug smuggler as he fled back into Mexico, leaving behind hundreds of pounds of drugs he’d brought into the U.S., said Andy Ramirez, chairman of the FOBP.
For example, the prosecutor who handled both cases against Ramos and Compean and Noe Aleman was U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, and the judge was Kathleen Cardone.
Sutton has been criticized for a number of his decisions in the Ramos-Compean case, including his choice to provide immunity to the drug smuggler and return him to the United States to help prosecute the law enforcement officers. And the judge, Kathleen Cardone, has been criticized for not allowing the jury to know that the incident involving the border agents was not the only drug-related incident involving the smuggler-turned-witness.
Sutton could not be reached by WND for a comment on the FOBP report.
The organization said the earlier “miscarriage” of justice happened in 2004, when Aleman, a senior patrol agent, notified authorities of a typographical error on an I-94 immigration visa form while he was in the process of adopting as his daughters his wife’s nieces.
The organization said Noe and Isabel Aleman were granted unconditional adoption of Saida, Yessica and Azucena, Mrs. Aleman’s nieces, in the El Paso courtroom of Judge Patricia Macias on April 12, 2004, and the couple picked up the children at the El Paso Port of Entry with Juarez, took them home and enrolled them in school.
When following up on some later paperwork, Aleman was surprised to see the children had been allowed into the United States on a document allowing only one business day, instead of the standard 90-day allowance.
“Agent Aleman then immediately reported what he and his wife thought was a typo error at the Hawkins (TX) Citizenship and Immigration Services office.
He was advised by an immigration attorney to ask for an adjudication officer and seek an extension of the ‘parole’ as it is known. Noe did exactly as he was advised, which he was informed by the immigration attorney, who guaranteed him that it would not be a problem having already gone through the adoption process with the Texas State District Court in El Paso,” the activist group said.
But when the Alemans later were told their visa had been approved, Aleman was arrested when he arrived to pick it up and charged with harboring illegal aliens, and their three daughters were taken into custody by the government, later to be deported, FOPB said.
“Here is just a sampling,” said Ramirez, “of what Sutton s prosecutors did to the Aleman family and how their civil rights were violated:
• “First, Noe was charged with smuggling his own legally adopted nieces. Yet, the government has never opposed the adoption paperwork as finalized by the State of Texas, which remains valid today. This was the same type of false statement that Sutton did to Agents Compean and Ramos though they claim that Agents Compean and Ramos are the wrongdoers and filed false statements.
• “Next, the government through agents from the Office of Inspector General and the FBI interrogated the Aleman daughters without counsel present and were trying to get the girls to admit they were being abused, which they vehemently denied. Is this not a violation of the civil rights of their daughters for being questioned without counsel present to protect their rights? When I think of what the government did to protect the non-existent rights of career drug smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila as compared to the civil rights of the Aleman girls, it makes any logical person sick knowing what happened to the Alemans, their daughters, and fellow Agents Compean and Ramos as well as their families.
• “After no evidence of abuse was discovered from this hostile and illegal interrogation, in which the girls were traumatized psychologically; Noe and Isabel’s daughters were, in retaliation for not lying to the government, placed in Removal Proceedings late June 2004.
• “At the Immigration Hearing on June 20, 2005, the girls, through their counsel, applied for Admission to the U.S. based on the fact that they are legally adopted daughters of U.S. Citizen Parents. The Immigration Judge denied the Application and ordered them removed. The Alemans appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (’BIA’), who upheld the original ruling. The Aleman daughters were subsequently deported though their legal and only family remains here in the U.S. The girls were deported and ordered ineligible to return to the U.S. for 10 years.
• “The Aleman girls were denied all visitation, and communication to their parents by the Department of Justice throughout this process, though, again, the girls are their legally adopted daughters.”
Johnny Sutton
“What’s peculiar,” Ramirez said, “is that in conducting an independent investigation as I previously did in the Compean & Ramos case, I learned that a one-day pass is odd as 90 days is considered the standard for issued visas. To prosecute Agent Aleman is yet another example of the abuse of power of Johnny Sutton’s office and for him to go to prison in unconscionable when you consider that George W. Bush, former BP Chief and local El Paso Congressman Silver Reyes, and a large number of U.S. Senators support amnesty for what’s estimated to be 20 million illegal aliens.”
Ramirez also said Sutton’s assistants called the Aleman girls “little whores” during testimony before the grand jury.
“What has America become to engage in such tactics against its own citizens and children?” Ramirez questioned. “Noe and Isabel should have been given medals for going through a process and bringing home and a family to their nieces who live in the dangerous Juarez, MX region.”
“To think that many in Congress, and George W. Bush support amnesty for at minimum 20 million illegal aliens, while the Aleman’s were prosecuted for nothing more than a typo is unconscionable, despicable, and contradictory,” Ramirez said.
“What kind of disgusting place has America become to engage in such tactics against its own citizens and children. While this case has nothing to do with my job performance, it defines the hypocrisy of the so-called Department of JUSTICE who protects dopers, and not agents who do their job, families, or its children,” Aleman said in a website statement.
Aleman appealed his case, but recently lost his appeal and has been ordered to report for his one-year prison term on Monday in El Paso, Ramirez said.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean (KFOX-TV, El Paso, Texas)
Ramos and Compean have been in prison since January, when they were ordered to report for their terms of 11 and 12 years.
Ramos and Compean were convicted of shooting and injuring a drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila-Aldrete, as he fled back to Mexico after driving across the border with a load of 742 pounds of marijuana in February 2005.
While under the protection of the grant of immunity from Sutton, Aldrete-Davila participated in another drug delivery, but the trial transcript in the Ramos-Compean case shows prosecutors successfully sought to have Judge Kathleen Cardone seal all information about Aldrete-Davila’s second drug bust from the jury.
Defense lawyers had argued the information about that incident as documented in Department of Homeland Security and Drug Enforcement Administration investigative reports went to the heart of the smuggler’s credibility when he told jurors his February 2005 escapade was the only time he’d done something like that.
“Mr Aleman didn’t discover the error and keep the info to himself, instead he immediately reported it to the Hawkins CIS office in order to secure the appropriate documentation as the honorable man he is,” Ramirez said. “Yet, Johnny ‘Satan’ Sutton’s minions chose to prosecute him, and violated not only his civil rights, but his daughters’ civil rights, too, the same rights they claim Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila had though he is a known and identified drug smuggler. We call on Congress to investigate the office of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton because it’s clear their conduct in each case has been a disgrace, especially taking into consideration the protection of criminals at the expense of the American taxpayers while prosecuting our law enforcement officers responsible for preventing smuggling and keeping narcotics off our streets.”
Really doesn’t matter what the story is… The illegals were breaking the law…. I say shoot to kill protect our boarder. After 911 any president should be protecting our boarder and not allowing one person to cross illegally. Shoot to kill should be policy of this country. Nothing happens to them crossing our boaders… Tired of taking care of the entire country instead of our own.
It should be obvious to all now that sutton is covering up because the truth be known he would be sued along with the federal orginization he supports for making the same bad mistake another did by going after the wrong men. He should have just threw the illeagle in jail and ignored the rest rather than attempting to show the world what a real ass he is.
Oh and I noticed if you read any articles about him hes another Bush man,,,,,,,,or should I say suck ass.
I’m sure he would, if the agents didn’t falsify their reports. Any .02c lawyer would be able to establish that the agents don’t have any credibility, and the case goes out the window.
It is just so sickening and frustrating to see how corrupt, inept and just plain retarded this administration is. It is so unfortunate that not enough citizens in Congress have the guts to confront all this sons of $!#@*& and demand they step down. Starting with the president George MORON Bush, the VICE-president DICK Chenney and all their sell-off followers, should go to jail for crimes against the American People and maybe we should place them in general population with all the criminals who are illigal aliens and see if they forgive them their well deserved ass whooping.
As a former State trooper and an 80 year old observer of human nature, I believe that few will argue that a slick shyster like D A
Sutton can convince an often gullible group of individuals making up a
grand jury to indict the most innocent among us. Once that is accomplished , the pursuit of justice scales are heavily swung towards
the prosecution side.
Since many otherwise responsible citizens avoid jury duty like the plague and any sign of intelligence guarantees that you will not be selected once reporting , the typical trial court juries are not aware
of of the jurisprudence vagaries that allowed Sutton to slip in a
entirely inappropiate mandatory 10 year imprisonmemt to be added to subsequent sentencing following a guilty finding by the jury
This shyster also broadsided the woman judge who was obliged by law
to pronounce this shameful sentence . I believe that George Bush must either pardon these Agents –or appoint District Attorneys Nifong
and Sutton to The Supreme Court to bring this type of justice full circle
PARDON Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean!!!
Give them back pay and more for their the horrible treatment they received from our government!!!!
FIRE Johnny Sutton !!!!!!!
i am a retired officer and when i heard that this faggot u.s. attorney prosecuted another officer for holding down a suspect with his boot ??? and convicted this officer for a civil rights violation. i knew this guy was a cop hater. i have been patient with this administration over everything going on but ….. jesus gw what the hell??
Being a gay male, I don’t appreciate Curtis’ (#38) use of the word “faggot.” You’re apparently a loser and a homophobe, so get lost you scumbag. Anyway, I TOTALLY disagree with Johnny Sutton’s 11- and 12-year sentences for these honorable border patrol agents. I can’t believe that President Bush has not intervened to pardon Ramos and Compean. Unfortunately, common sense and logic has totally gone out the window in this country. I’m afraid the outlook is not good and I don’t know if this country will ever be the same again. I am a proud American and am saddened to see how this country has gone downhill in the past 10 years. Yes, we’re a country of immigrants and a melting pot, but we should NOT be a country of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS (I don’t call them illegal immigrants, I call them ILLEGAL ALIENS, because they are not immigrants in every sense of the word). I hope the next administration will try to find the power and will to get this country back on track. So many things are backwards nowadays that sometimes I question whether or not the damage is done and we’re just headed towards being a third world country ourselves. Maybe the tables ARE turning.
If you would like all the Illegal immigration insanity explained, including Johnny Sutton, the Bush puppet, and his outrageous actions against the border agents, please Google: stopthenorthamericanunion.com, stopspp.com, stopnorthamericanunion.com, numbersusa. The big picture makes all the sense in the world. I thought it was over the top until I saw the frightening parallels in Europe. Before the European Union, (EU) England was flooded with immigrants (Muslims). We are being flooded with Illegal mostly Mexican immigrants. Before the EU, England, for example, was lied to and told they would keep their sovereignty and borders. Post-EU, they must helplessly watch as hordes of poor Eastern European “Partners” flood into England. Some towns are now only 10% native born Brits. Since the EU constitution supercedes the constitution of every European nation, they must accept “directives” from the UNELECTED, UNACCOUNTABLE EU “ministers” in Brussels. Europe’s fate will be ours if we don’t stop it now. If you think you’ve seen a lot of foreigners now, just wait until we are one country with corrupt Mexico and Socialist Canada. Press one for English? Spanish signs everywhere? They’re grooming us for our New World Order. This is all an intentional blurring of our sovereignty and borders to make way for the North American Union (NAU) by 2010. Watch closely the August 20, 21 Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) between One World Order Bush, Mexico’s Calderone and Canada’s Harper in Quebec. Since the first SPP meeting in Waco in 2005, the 3 amigos have been using taxpayer money to form all sorts of government groups to “harmonize” the laws of the three countries to make us one and destroy our sovereignty, our borders, our constitution and our way of life just as they have done in Europe. The SPP meeting will be one of the last nails in our coffin. Please read the above sites, get the big picture of what they are unconstitutionally doing and get the word out. We can’t fight what we don’t know! The only good news is that there is a bill in the House sponsored by Representative Virgil Goode of VA that wants to overturn NAFTA (and their damned Superhighway slated to begin construction this summer) and BAN the NAU. There are 25 congressional co-sponsors, including 3 presidential candidates. Only place you’ll hear anything about any of the above is Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs. Thanks, Roberta.
you’re worse than Nazi during the seconde world war
Sutton you are a JOKE!!!! How can you prosecute the innocent and allow the guilty to go free???
ditto to Lauren…may God touch the mind and HEART of Johnny Sutton, if not President Bush!!!
Bless Ramos and Campion and their families…may they soon be FREE!!!!